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This week: The Family You Got to Choose Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
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Well, that's funny.
I could have sworn there was a description on here somewhere.
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this past weekend, I had the bittersweet pleasure of saying goodbye to a good friend-- not the big goodbye, just one of those little goodbyes, when you close a chapter on something, like a paid internship in the big city, say, when you finally go home. This week has been a reflection on the past few months for me, on the nature of what it means to be a friend, and on the laughs we've all shared on this crazy ride.
Now, for me, my friends are some of the most important people in my life, and I don't mean that in a Degrassi High kind of way; just that, at this stage in my life, my family is pretty small and somewhat removed from my day to day life. In a big way, my friends are the family I choose to have for the eleven months of the year I'm not able to visit with my blood relations.
Friends are those people you can rely on for a hug or a shoulder, and of course for a good laugh. While you might not laugh at the same jokes as other folks in your family, I would say that it's harder to make good friends with people who don't share your ability to laugh, or don't laugh at the same things you do.
In our writing, sometimes it can be hard to bottle that magic-- the specific in-joke, the exact series of incidents which lead to a humorous circumstance, or the minutiae of detail required to capture the specific meaning of something which happened to you and your friends. Context is key here-- find ways to bridge the gap, don't be afraid to paraphrase or show a detail in a more colorful light, for example, in a blog entry.
In fiction, it's important that even complicated friendships make some kind of sense to the reader-- too many private jokes or details overlapping from parts of the story that aren't on the page will only serve to confuse the reader. Keep it tight and straightforward to keep it funny. In poetry, the comic elements of friendships can be used to offset otherwise heavy feelings and thoughts, too.
Having a good laugh with a good friend is cathartic-- in our writing, it's a great way to build characters and show depth. Get your characters laughing together, whether it's telling jokes or gentle ribbing or just plain goofing off. It's not quite as good as the real thing, but it's pretty darn close. 
That's all for now!
Take care and Write on!
~j |
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Comedy: December 20, 2011 Issue [#4777]
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